Christine Goes to Vacation Bible School
by 554Laura
Summary: A summer challenge story about Christine going to camp. Brennan volunteers to help Christine's class at vacation Bible school. Multiple chapters. Fun and Fluffy. I don't own Bones
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: this story was part of a challenge some fan fiction writers discussed, where Christine goes to Summer camp. I decided to tweak my story a bit and so Christine is going to Vacation Bible School. As a person of faith and a science teacher, it is not my desire to make fun of anyone's religious beliefs or lack thereof. I'm more interested in trying to present both points of view. I hope you enjoy my little story. Laura._

* * *

It was a beautiful June morning, and Father Mears couldn't help but smile as he walked the narrow path between St. Mark's Church and his rectory. As usual, morning Mass that Wednesday had been sparsely attended, but he had long ago given up worrying about details like that. The priest had served his Lord faithfully for many years, and the fact that only six or seven parishioners and the nuns from the nearby convent had attended Mass in the large Gothic sanctuary that morning didn't change a thing. He would continue to be faithful to his calling as a servant of the Most High, and he would celebrate the Eucharist every day, even if he was the only person at the service.

Stopping to enjoy the fragrance of the yellow roses outside his office, Father Mears was sure that nothing could spoil his day...that is, until he saw Sister Mary Agnes perched on a chair in the office's waiting room. He sighed to himself as he entered the rectory's tiny outer room. It wasn't that the sweet natured nun would deliberately do something to ruin his day, but small troubles and minor irritations seemed to follow the young woman wherever she went. More than once Father Mears had begged St. Jude to give her a wee bit of luck for a change, but so far the patron saint of lost causes had turned a deaf ear to his petitions. Slightly annoyed with the lack of assistance from the Heavenly Realms, Father Mears had been determined to find another saint to help, but none seemed to be available at the moment. It was going to be up to the priest to come to her aid yet again.

Forcing himself to be jovial, the priest wore a broad smile as he greeted his visitor. "Good morning, Sister. What can I do for you this fine day?"

After quickly rising from her chair and shyly dropping into a small curtsey, the petite nun hesitated slightly before explaining her problem. Mary Agnes wasn't even sure it really was a problem, and she hated to bother the parish priest, but she needed some advice, and being somewhat afraid of the Sister Superior at the convent, she'd decided that perhaps her confessor would be better able to help instead. "Well, you see, Father...", she began in her soft Irish brogue, "...Vacation Bible School is next week, and we've had trouble getting volunteers to help us…"

"Oh, I understand. I'll make an announcement at Sunday's Mass, and I'll have Mrs. Emmert send out an email to the parish this morning asking for more volunteers…that usually helps." Father Mears grabbed a mug from the counter as he turned toward his coffee pot. "Would you like some coffee, Sister?"

"No, thank you. Anyway, Father, I did manage to get a volunteer to help me with the second grade class for a few days...but that's the problem…" Rubbing her hands together nervously as she paced the small room, she began to fidget with her crucifix. "I don't know what to do…"

Father Mears was becoming slightly impatient with his visitor. He still had to put the finishing touches on his homily for this Sunday, and the Cubs' game was going to be televised this afternoon. He needed to use his time wisely today in order to get everything on his list accomplished this morning. "I don't understand, Sister. First there's a problem with no volunteers, and then there's a problem with the volunteer for your class?"

Slumping back into her seat, Sister Mary Agnes looked like she was about to cry. "My volunteer is supposed to be Christine Booth's mother…Dr. Temperance Brennan."

"Oh, I see." Father Mears tried to cover his brief grimace with a chuckle. "Dr. Brennan is a very interesting woman, Sister…"

"That she is, Father, and I must admit, she's always been very pleasant toward me. She helped make Christmas pageant costumes last year, and she provided cookies and prizes for the last Sunday School carnival. The problem lies elsewhere." Mary Agnes shook her head sadly. "Dr. Brennan doesn't believe in God or that the Bible is the Word of God. Why would she choose to help me with Vacation Bible School if she's not a believer? I'm afraid she's going to cause the children to doubt what we want to teach them. She's a scientist, you know…" Mary Agnes made some disdainful air quotes as she emphasized the words describing Dr Brennan. "She's a 'rational, logical empiricist' who only believes things she can see, touch or measure."

Laughing softly as he stirred some sugar into his coffee, Father Mears smiled gently at the nervous young nun. "I'd say you have an excellent opportunity here, Sister. Not everyone is as lucky as you are. The Lord is using you in a very special way."

Eying the priest suspiciously as she rose from her seat, the sister put her hands on her hips as she glared up at him. "I think you're full of blarney, Father. Having someone argue with me about the infallibility of the Pope or the veracity of the Holy Scriptures hardly seems like something I'd look forward to…especially with a roomful of small children to witness the fray."

"Just think, Mary Agnes...you'll have the chance to convert an unbeliever, and a hard core one at that. You can demonstrate the love of Christ to Dr. Brennan as you teach the children about our faith. Now, granted, that will a very difficult task, and you may not be successful, but our Lord calls us to reach out to all of the souls who don't believe. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that our Savior loves Dr. Brennan even if she doesn't believe in him…"

"Yes, but, Father Mears…" Sister Mary Agnes smoothed her black habit and stood up straight, trying to appear taller than she was. "...what about the other children in the class? I know that Christine is used to her mother's opinions, but the other children might be easily swayed by her use of logic to prove the Bible wrong."

"In that case, you'd better do a good job of making your case for the Lord." Father Mears held up his hand to stop the young woman's protests. "You're called to obedience, Sister, and to demonstrate the love of God to others. I think Dr. Brennan will be a good test for you." Filling his coffee cup again, the priest smiled as he opened the door leading into his office. "I'll talk to you later this week. Don't fret, Sister. Perhaps you'll get another volunteer to assist you and Dr. Brennan with the class. Bye, now."

Infuriated by the priest's smug dismissal of her problem, Mary Agnes scowled at the closed door in front of her. "Proselytize Dr. Brennan, indeed". Sighing as she turned to leave, the young nun sent up a mumbled prayer. "I hope this is your idea of a joke, Lord, but I have to admit...I don't think having Dr. Brennan's 'help' me next week is very funny."

Oooooooooo

Booth nearly choked on his coffee at breakfast the following Monday morning. "You're going to do what?" He stared at his wife in disbelief before blessing himself with the sign of the Cross. "You're joking, right? I really don't think that's a good idea, Bones…"

Brennan rolled her eyes at her husband as she loaded the dishwasher. "I don't see the problem, Booth. I'm quite familiar with the mythology that is a part of your church's belief system, and I know you feel that it's important for Christine to understand it, too, especially since she attends services with you."

"It's not mythology", Booth growled as he straightened out his newspaper. "I happen to believe what's written in the Bible, Bones. You know that. I also believe the teachings of my church..."

"Which is why you have such a large collection of condoms in your nightstand drawer, right? We're practicing birth control even though it's against the rules." Brennan wore a smug grin as she continued. "I find your selective belief system to be even more confusing than the Church's actual doctrine, Booth."

"That whole birth control thing...that's different…" Clearing his throat, Booth turned a page on his paper. "Weren't we talking about Christine going to Vacation Bible School?"

"Yes, we were, and I'm still unsure of the problem. While I don't believe in the religious beliefs your church espouses, I realize that the Roman Catholic Church has been a major influence on Western culture and thought for centuries, and I think it's a good thing to expose Christine to that. However, I also think it's important to expose her to science and critical thinking practices so she can decide what she wishes to believe. I merely want to make sure both sides are equally represented in Christine's education."

"Yeah. Great." Booth grimaced as he took another drink of his coffee. "Here's the thing, Bones...I like St Mark's, and I feel really comfortable with Father Mears being my priest. I don't want to be asked to attend a different parish just because my wife has a showdown with some nun over what to tell the kids about the ark and stuff like that…"

"I can be discreet, Booth. I won't argue with the teacher about any of her ridiculous beliefs in front of the class." She smiled as he continued to grumble. "I have some compensation time coming from the hours we worked on our last case. I thought it would be fun to spend time with Christine at Vacation Bible School, so I'm going with her from 9 until 12 this week, and then I'll take her to the museum with me in the afternoon so she can attend the computer coding sessions that Angela is teaching." Kissing Booth on the cheek, she giggled as he tried to scowl at her. "I promise to be pleasant…"

"Okay...if you say so." Booth drank the rest of his coffee and reached for his jacket. "But the Pope's off limits, alright? Pope Francis is a good guy…"

"I agree, Booth...he does seem to be a good man. I don't believe he's infallible, but he does seem to be concerned for the welfare of the poor, and he promotes good stewardship of the environment. Please don't worry. Christine and I will be fine…" Brennan scooped some oatmeal into a bowl and placed it on the kitchen counter. "Come eat breakfast, Christine..."

"Yeah." Booth was still unconvinced, but he didn't have time to argue about the situation any more. "I'll see you this evening." Kissing his wife good bye, he went out to his car and sat for a minute before he left for work, wondering just how many Hail Marys and Our Fathers it was going to take to keep him out of trouble with both his wife and Father Mears.


	2. Chapter 2

Sister Mary Agnes took a deep breath to steady herself as she placed the coloring sheets on the desks in her classroom. Her group of second graders would be arriving any minute, and she had to be on the ball. She looked over the schedule that was posted on the wall by the door. After a short opening chapel assembly each morning, the various age groups would be rotating to different stations at different times during the day. The second graders were going to crafts first, then to music, to missions time, snacks and play time, and then finally they'd end their day with a follow up discussion about that day's Bible story . Each one of the day's activities was based on a theme for the day, with the overall theme for the week being "God calls us." Sighing softly, Mary Agnes wondered what her Lord had in mind when He'd called her to be one of His servants. Even with all the work she'd put into preparing the lessons for this week of Vacation Bible School, she certainly didn't feel very worthy of doing the Lord's work this morning. Breathing a small prayer as she glanced at the clock, she finally had an epiphany. The young nun realized she'd been relying on herself for all the answers to Dr. Brennan's questions. Maybe it was time to rely on the Lord instead…

Walking to the front door of the church's Sunday School wing, Mary Agnes greeted her young charges before shaking hands with her parent volunteer. "Many thanks for helping me this week, Dr. Brennan. I love being with the children, but they can be rambunctious at times. An extra set of eyes and hands is always appreciated."

"I'm looking forward to it, Sister." Brennan smiled indulgently as Christine ran to play with some of the other children. "Oh, and please don't worry. I've promised my husband not to interfere with your teaching of the Church's mythology…"

"Thank you." Mary Agnes forced a broad smile as she nodded politely. "I know I can count on your discretion." _That's a good one, isn't it, Lord? Dr. Brennan not meddling…_ Deciding it was best to keep her thoughts to herself, she rang a bell to gain everyone's attention. "Okay, me darlins'...let's go into the church and see what Father Mears wants to tell us today…"

Oooooooooo

The Bible School participants had successfully maneuvered through their schedule for the day, and it was time for the Bible story discussion. Sister Mary Agnes called the squirmy, fidgety second graders together around the small wooden chair where she was sitting. "Okay, who can tell me what the theme for today was? Tommy?"

Tommy took his finger out of his nose long enough to shrug a shoulder. "I dunno."

"Anyone else? Yes, Christine…"

The little girl beamed proudly under her mother's smile as she answered her teacher's question. "God calls us to be obedient."

Nodding, the nun smiled her approval. "Very good. And what story did we use to show us that obedience is good? Katie?"

Sticking her tongue out at Tommy, Katie answered in a singsong voice. "Jonah and the Big Fish."

"That's right. Jonah tried to run away from what the Lord wanted him to do, but the Lord found out, just like He always does. Now, sometimes at home, you do things your parents don't want you to do, and what happens when they find out? Yes, Mark?"

"You get a spanking." Mark rubbed his bottom, obviously having learned that lesson the hard way.

Cringing slightly at the memories of her own childhood, Mary Agnes nodded. "Sometimes that's true, or sometimes our parents discipline us in other ways. The point is that they discipline us because they love us, and they don't want us to get hurt. The Lord wanted Jonah to do something, and when Jonah didn't do it, the Lord had to discipline him. Being obedient is the best choice for us so we can stay out of trouble. Yes, Christine?"

"My Mommy says this is a silly story since people can't actually live in a fish's stomach 'cuz they'd get digested." Christine smiled, pleased to demonstrate her knowledge of science.

Brennan cleared her throat, trying to figure out how to respond to her daughter's comment since she'd promised Booth to be considerate of his beliefs. "Actually, Christine, what I meant was that this story is an allegory. It explains how the Hebrews, as personified by Jonah, overcame the teachings about the Babylonian god Ea, who is often represented as a fish. There is some doubt as to whether or not an actual man named Jonah actually existed."

"Isn't that lovely, children?", Sister Mary Agnes exclaimed happily as she smiled broadly at Dr. Brennan. "It seems the Lord likes to tell a good story, doesn't He? The Bible is full of wonderful stories just like this one. Did you know that Christine's mother writes stories, too? She uses her stories to explain forensic science to people, right, Dr. Brennan?"

"Yes, but…" Brennan wasn't sure she liked where the conversation was going. "...unlike the Bible stories, my stories have a basis in fact…"

"Kathy Reichs isn't a real person, but you can still use her to explain how science works, correct? In the same way, Jonah may not have been a real man, but his story can be used to explain to us why obedience is so important. Oh, my goodness, look at the time, my pets. Off to home you go…Thank you for your help, Dr. Brennan. See you tomorrow."

Standing in the doorway of the classroom, Brennan waved goodbye to the young nun. It was going to be interesting to hear what Booth would have to say about Christine questioning the Jonah story. However, she and Christine had both enjoyed the day at Bible school, and they were looking forward to returning tomorrow. That should make her husband very happy.

At dinner that evening, Booth cleared his throat slightly before asking the question that had been on his mind all afternoon. "How was Vacation Bible School today, Christine? Did you and Mommy have fun?"

"Uh huh! We sang a song about a big fish swallowing Jonah, and we crawled inside a big black tunnel made out of trash bags and pretended we were inside the fish, and we drew pictures of Jonah living inside of the fish. I think Mommy liked the story Sister told us. Mommy said it was an alligator…"

Turning to his wife in surprise, Booth raised an eyebrow. "An alligator? I thought Jonah was swallowed by a whale…"

"A large fish.", Brennan chuckled as she explained. "The story is an allegory...it uses common words and symbolism to explain a deeper concept. Christine, tell your Daddy what the theme was for today."

"God calls us to be obedient. That means we're sposed to do what we're told."

"Does that mean you're supposed to eat that asparagus on your plate?" Booth gave his wife a broad wink. "I think that's what Mommy told you to do…"

"I guess.", the little girl grumbled. She took a big bite, grimacing as she chewed the spear. "I think doing what God says to do is hard."

"You got that right." Booth nodded in agreement. "Okay, go put your plate in the sink. I'll help Mommy with the dishes tonight." He turned to his wife after Christine left the table. "It sounds like things went okay this morning…"

"Are you checking to see if I was obedient as well?" Brennan playfully glared at her husband. "I didn't really contradict anything that Sister Mary Agnes told the children about the Jonah myth." She cringed slightly as she ate her last bite of pasta. "Christine told her teacher that I had said it was a silly story, which is true...I did say that. I was impressed, however, with the teacher's use of logic. She said that if I could use Kathy Reichs to help people understand science it wasn't much different than the Church using a mythical man to help people understand that they should follow its religious teachings. She had a point, and I respect that. Of course, the context of my stories is real, unlike the Bible stories, but I could see the validity of her statement."

Booth smiled to himself as he picked up the plates from the table. "Well, I'm glad you had fun helping Christine's class. In the long run, that's the most important part, I suppose."

Nodding in agreement, Brennan loaded the dishwasher. "I suppose you're right. It'll be interesting to see what the lesson will be tomorrow."

Laughing softly, Booth glanced at his wife. "Yeah, it'll definitely be interesting."


	3. Chapter 3

Father Mears stopped to peek into the second grade classroom on his way to the chapel. "Did things go well yesterday, Sister? I assume you and Dr. Brennan worked together successfully."

"We had a nice time yesterday, Father." Mary Agnes flashed a broad smile at the priest. "It seems that she and Christine have discussed some of the Old Testament stories at great length, with Dr. Brennan pointing out all of the scientific flaws in the stories." The nun chuckled as she pulled some boxes of crayons from a shelf. "Christine was quite sure Jonah couldn't live the stomach of a large fish because the fish's digestive juices would've killed him, and I can see her point, especially when the Bible recounts how the fish vomited Jonah up on dry land."

"You know, I've often wondered about that myself.", Father Mears laughed as he helped his young protege' place the boxes of crayons on the desks. "It will be interesting to see what they say about today's lesson. The story of David and Goliath is usually a crowd pleaser."

"Aye, it will be interesting, won't it? I'm sure the children will keep me on my toes." Mary Agnes turned and smiled as she heard her students arriving. "Ah, here we are...good morning, my dears…"

Oooooooooo

The children came rushing noisily into the classroom, having enjoyed a rousing series of games during their playtime. Brennan had shown the class how to make rudimentary slingshots with rubber bands and a pair of popsicle sticks taped together, and the children had used miniature marshmallows as ammunition, pelting each other and their teachers with what seemed to be thousands of the sweet treats, not to mention how many marshmallows had been eaten, both before and after they'd been launched from the slingshots.

Slightly tired and flushed with the summer heat, Sister Mary Agnes perched on her chair, fanning herself with her booklet as the children crowded around her on the floor. "That was fun, wasn't it? Did you remember to tell Dr. Brennan thank you?"

The children turned to the back of the room where Brennan was sitting. "Thank you, Dr. Brennan!", they said in unison.

"Very good." The nun took a sip of water before she began the lesson. "Alright, now...who can tell me what our theme was today? Fiona?"

Scratching her freckled nose, Fiona thought for a few seconds. "God calls us to be brave?"

"That's correct! Very good. Now, who remembers the names of the 2 main people in the story? Yes, Aaron…"

Aaron elbowed Tommy in the ribs before he answered. "David and Goliath. David was the good guy, and Goliath was bad."

"Really...what did Goliath do that was so bad?" Mary Agnes watched her students think through the question. "How would you describe it? Lucy?"

"I think Goliath was a big bully!", Lucy blurted out angrily. "He was mean, and he said a lot of bad things about people and about God, too."

"Well, I guess that about covers it." Grinning at the little girl, the young nun asked another question. "What did David do about it?"

"He hit Goliath with a rock right between the eyes!" Tommy made a big show of falling down as he imagined Goliath had done. "That must've been hard, since Goliath was so big."

"That's right, Sister!" Annie chimed in. "Goliath was a giant. He was like a million feet tall!"

"I don't think he was quite that tall, Annie." Sister Mary Agnes and Dr. Brennan exchanged amused smiles. "What do you think, Dr. Brennan? Have there ever been any real giants in history?"

"I certainly think that Goliath was quite a bit taller than the average Hebrew man, but I'm not sure he was a true giant." Brennan tilted her head to one side as she thought about the question. "Perhaps he was as tall as a professional basketball player, like LeBron James or someone like that. If he was over seven feet tall, he would certainly look like a giant compared to David, but I feel sure he wasn't a million feet tall."

"So, boys and girls...David was a boy, not much older than you, and he was upset about the way that Goliath was talking about the Lord. He went out on the field of battle, and he faced down a man much larger than himself with just a slingshot and some rocks. I'd say David was very brave, wouldn't you?" The wide eyed children all nodded, obviously very impressed with the story. "And that leads us to the theme for today. God calls us to be brave. Now, we may never have to face a giant, but sometimes at school, we have to stand up for what's right. Like Lucy said, sometimes people can be mean and act like bullies, and we have to ask them to stop being mean. That can be really scary, but we can ask God to help us be brave."

Christine raised her hand. "One time at school, this boy named Lucas was teasing my friend Emma, and I helped her by telling the teacher about it in private. Was I being brave?"

"Of course you were, Christine. Any time you take a stand to help someone, you're being brave." Mary Agnes smiled at the little girl. "And I'd say you were a good friend, too."

"But I don't understand." Christine's brow furrowed as she thought about the story. "One of the Ten Commandments is 'don't kill someone'. How come it was okay for David to kill Goliath?"

Sending up a quick emergency prayer for assistance, Mary Agnes hesitated for a few seconds before answering. "It's a hard thing, my dear. Sometimes, when we are put in the position of defending our country, or defending those who can't defend themselves, we have to use force against someone, and sometimes, when we have to do that, the other person dies. That makes God very sad, but He understands that bad things happen in those situations, and when we ask for His forgiveness, he extends it to us." Noticing that Brennan was listening closely, the nun chose her words carefully. "Fiona's mother is a police officer, and your father solves crimes for the FBI, Christine. Lucy's father is overseas being a soldier in Afghanistan. We pray for them everyday, hoping that they won't be in a scary situation, but we know that if they are, they'll be brave, because they've asked God to help them. God calls all of us to be brave everyday in big things and in little things." Checking her watch, the teacher rose from her chair. "Alright, time for dismissal. I'll see you in the morning, children."

Brennan held Christine's hand as she stopped to speak to the younger woman. "I enjoyed working with you today, Sister."

"Thank you. I'm glad you thought of the slingshots. I'd say they were a big hit." Sister Mary Agnes smiled at her helper. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Ooooooooooo

Christine was in bed sound asleep when Booth brought Brennan a glass of wine. Sitting next to her on the sofa, he sipped his Scotch as he put his arm around her. "How was Bible school today?"

"I think Christine enjoyed it. The story was about David and Goliath, which is a classic underdog story. Of course, since David won, the Hebrews claimed that their god helped him win, when in actuality he was an expert with his slingshot, and Goliath was extremely overconfident, which led to his downfall."

"I see." Booth nodded quietly, having received more information than he'd bargained for. "I've always liked that story. Sometimes, when things look bad, there's always a chance for the little guy to come out on top, you know?"

"I suppose that makes sense." Brennan snuggled against her husband. "Christine asked Sister Mary Agnes an interesting question today."

"Of course she did. She's our kid, so she's exceptional." Booth grinned at his wife. "Takes after her dad…"

"In this case, I'd say that was true. She asked Sister Mary Agnes why it was acceptable for David to kill Goliath if the Commandments say that killing someone is a sin."

"Wow. That's deep." Booth ran his finger along the rim of his glass. "What did Sister say?"

"That sometimes we have to be brave and defend ourselves or someone else, and we might have to use force or kill someone, but your church believes your god will forgive you if you ask him to do so. That must be a great comfort to you, Booth."

"Yeah, it is. I mean, I know I've killed a lot of guys as a sniper and as part of my job at the FBI, but I know I can be forgiven by God if I ask, and at the end of the day, that makes me feel a lot better." He sighed softly. "It doesn't hurt to be reminded of that, though. So Christine really asked that? Amazing…"

"Yes, she did. I was quite proud of her for asking her teacher a difficult question instead of just accepting what someone has told her in the past. She's thinking critically about what she's learning, and that's good."

"C'mon, Bones...some things have to be accepted by faith…" Booth took another sip of his Scotch. "Sometimes you just have to go with what someone else says, especially when you're a little kid…"

"True, but I'm still glad she's thinking for herself. That sort of confidence will most likely prevent her from falling victim to peer pressure."

"I suppose." Booth grinned as he took Brennan's glass and set it on the table. "You know, another story I remember about David is the one about him spying on Bathsheba while she was taking a bath. You know what that makes me think of?"

Brennan giggled. "Spying on your wife while she's in the bathtub? Didn't David cause a lot of problems doing that? He wasn't actually married to Bathsheba when he first spied on her."

"Maybe he did get into trouble, but we're married, so it's okay if I spy on you for awhile...and then maybe I'll decide to join you. Let's go…" Booth pulled Brennan up from the couch. "You'd better go to bed early so you're ready for Bible School tomorrow."

Grinning as she slowly walked toward their bedroom, Brennan rolled her eyes at her husband. "I may go to bed early, but I doubt that I'll get to go to sleep early…"

"Excellent critical thinking skills there, Bones. C'mon...last one to the bathtub is a rotten egg…"


	4. Chapter 4

"What's going on?", Booth asked as he watched Brennan pack some items into a canvas bag. "I thought you were going to Vacation Bible School with Christine this morning."

"I am, but I wanted to bring some things to help Sister Mary Agnes with her lesson today." Brennan held up a solid, triangular shaped piece of clear glass. "The story is about Noah's Ark, so I'm bringing prisms to show the children how white light can be broken up into the colors of the rainbow. The Bible story makes it seem like a mystical event when the rainbow appears to Noah, when in reality it a very common natural phenomenon. Raindrops act like prisms to form a rainbow."

"I thought you said you weren't going to make fun of the Bible stories that Sister Mary Agnes is presenting this week.", Booth grumbled as he stirred some sugar into his coffee.

"I'm not going to make fun of the stories. I'm merely going to point out that there are many explanations for things that occur in the Bible without relying on the use of mythology. For example, the parting of the Red Sea could've occurred because of an earthquake in the region, and the Star of Bethlehem might've been a comet. Sister Mary Agnes is an intelligent woman, Booth. I don't think she'll mind."

"If I remember correctly, though, she's the teacher this week, and you're the helper." Booth sipped his coffee, ignoring his wife's annoyance as she glared at him. "You know, I agree with you. There might be many logical, natural explanations for what happened in the Bible stories. However, in this case, you might have to sit back and let Sister Mary Agnes give God the credit for those things. After all, it's Vacation _Bible_ School. You knew that when you volunteered to help with Christine's class." He walked around the kitchen counter to give his wife a kiss. "I know how hard it is for you to sit through the stories without trying to prove your point, but just think of how much fun you and Christine are having together. That's the main idea, isn't it? To have fun with your daughter as you enjoy an activity together?"

"I suppose it's possible that you're correct." Brennan sighed as she wrapped her arms around her husband's neck. "I am having fun with Christine. The games and craft activities have been most enjoyable, and I've enjoyed interacting with the other children as well." She shared another kiss with him. "I'm still going to take the prisms to Bible school, and I'm still going to explain that it's a natural phenomenon. I think the children will enjoy seeing the rainbows."

"I think that's great. I still enjoy that kind of sciencey stuff that myself." Booth grinned as he tucked a strand of hair behind Brennan's ear. "I'm going to work. I'll see you later…"

"I'm looking forward to it." She arched her eyebrow at him as she smiled. "I think perhaps later, the two of us can have fun together, too."

He twitched his eyebrows at her as he grabbed his phone and jacket. "Definitely."

oooooooooo

Sister Mary Agnes chuckled as she moved the large tub of water from the low table in the center of the room, wiping up large puddles of the spilled water with paper towels before pushing up her damp sleeves. "Well, children, after our experiment, it seems that we've figured out the best shape for the ark, right?" She smiled as she looked over the fleet of small aluminum foil boats in various shapes scattered across the desks in the classroom. "Maybe flat, like a barge? Noah might be able to carry lots of animals on a big barge. Now imagine the boat that he really built. The Bible says the ark was 450 feet long and 75 feet high. I think Noah could carry lots of animals on a boat like that."

Mark studied his tiny boat carefully. "Sister, how did Noah get dinosaurs into the ark? Some of them were a lot bigger than the ark."

"Oh…" Of all the questions Mary Agnes had prepared for when she studied the story, that was one she hadn't considered. "Well…"

Brennan smiled as she caught the nun's eye. "I don't think Noah had to worry about dinosaurs, Mark, because the dinosaurs had become extinct long before there were people on the Earth. If Noah actually took animals on an ark, they were probably smaller domestic animals, like chickens, sheep and goats, and maybe camels and donkeys. It just wasn't possible for him to take lots of very large animals such as elephants and bears."

"Okay." Satisfied with that answer, Mark asked another question. "Dr. Brennan, can we look at the prisms again?"

"We can, if it's alright with Sister Mary Agnes." Brennan glanced at the younger woman, who nodded. "I think it's fun to see the rainbows. Look...because of the fluorescent light bulbs in the classroom, the rainbows in here are different than the rainbows we made in the sunlight…"

After the children played with the prisms for a few minutes, Sister Mary Agnes called the class to order. "We had fun today, didn't we, my pets? We learned about how rainbows are made…"

Christine raised her hand. "The raindrops distract the light, right, Sister?"

Chuckling softly, Brennan shook her head. "I believe the word you're looking for is refract, Christine. The raindrops refract and scatter the light, so we see the colors of the rainbow."

"There you go, children. That's how the rainbow is made. Now, who remembers what the Lord said about the rainbow? Fiona?"

"It was a sign that He wouldn't completely flood the earth again?" Fiona twisted a strand of coppery hair around her finger. "Is that right? That He wouldn't destroy the earth that way?"

"Yes, very good. The rainbow is a sign of the promise made by God to Noah." Sister Mary Agnes smiled at her students. "Now, who remembers our theme for the day? Tommy?"

"Um...God calls us to build boats?" The rest of the class giggled as Mary Agnes pretended to glare at the grinning little boy. "Sorry, Sister. I think it's God calls us to trust Him."

"That's correct. Think about poor Noah. He was an old man when the Lord spoke to him and told him to build a huge boat so that he and his family and the animals could escape a flood. There wasn't a lot of water around where Noah lived, and yet, the Lord told him to build a boat! I would imagine his neighbors thought he was pretty silly to do that, don't you think?"

The children all nodded in agreement as Lucy raised her hand. "How did Noah know it was God talking to him?"

"Aye, that's a good question, isn't it? And the Bible doesn't really tell us the answer, except to say that Noah trusted God. Throughout the Bible there are many people who left everything they had to follow the Lord, because they trusted Him." The petite nun smiled at her students. "Now, who can tell me about someone they know that they can trust?"

Annie waved her hand wildly, anxious to be called on. "I know! I know! My mommy and my daddy!"

"That's wonderful. I'm so glad you can trust them. It's important to have people in our lives that we can trust...who love us no matter what, even if we aren't being very nice. Those people can be family members, or teachers, or when you get older, they can be people you work with. The important thing is to find those people and hang on to them. It's also important that we try to be someone others can trust." Sister Mary Agnes smiled gently. "It's hard to do sometimes, but if we are kind to others, and if we keep our word when we say we'll do something, people will be able to trust us, and that makes the Lord happy. You know, He always keeps His promises, just like He did to Noah, and we hope to be like Him. Alright, boys and girls, it's time to leave, but first: let's say thank you to Dr. Brennan for bringing the prisms today."

"Thank you, Dr. Brennan!", the children sang out loudly.

"You're welcome, children. I hope you learned something today." Brennan smiled as she picked up the prisms. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Ooooooooooo

Brennan sat in her bed, propped up on her pillows as Booth brushed his teeth. "Vacation Bible School was interesting today, Booth. Sister Mary Agnes had the children do an experiment to see what shape would be best suited for the ark."

Booth stood in the bathroom door and grinned. "See? The Church can embrace science. You know, a lot of hospitals and universities have been sponsored by Catholic organizations."

"I realize that, but I was still somewhat surprised that she'd add that to the lesson for today, although, as I said this morning, she is quite intelligent, even if she does believe the mythology of your church." Brennan smiled as her husband crawled into bed next to her. "Today's lesson was about how Noah trusted his god. Now, clearly, that story is another allegory, because it would be impossible for him to get pairs all of the world's different animals onto a small wooden boat." Seeing Booth roll his eyes, Brennan giggled as he embraced her. "Anyway, Sister Mary Agnes was talking about how hard it can be for someone to become trustworthy, but I never felt that way about you. For some reason, I always felt like I could trust you, Booth…"

"Thanks, Bones. I feel the same way about you. One thing I knew about you right away is that you always tell the truth. That goes a long way towards establishing trust between people, you know?"

"I know." Brennan pulled her husband close. "Thank you for being you, Booth...thank you for being a man I could trust, even when things were bad. Somehow I knew I could trust you to find the right way back to me...that we'd find our way back to each other."

"And you can trust that I'll do that for the rest of my life." He reached up to turn off the lamp. "Okay, no more talking. You promised that we'd have fun tonight, and I'm trusting you to keep your word."

Brennan laughed as she kissed Booth. "That's one promise I'll be glad to keep."


	5. Chapter 5

Father Mears stood at the door of the classroom, wondering where Sister Mary Agnes was. He hadn't had a chance to talk to her in the last few days, but she seemed to be enjoying the second grade class during this week of Vacation Bible School. He chuckled to himself. Maybe all the young woman had needed was a challenge...something to get her Irish up. Once she was focused on the work at hand and became less worried about all the things that might go wrong, things had been much better for both of them. Pleased with himself for making this discovery, he nodded in satisfaction, deciding to look for something else to challenge his young protege' when VBS was finished.

"Good morning, Father Mears." Mary Agnes smiled at him as she tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, please…"

"Ah, good morning, Sister. How are you today? Ready for the story about Joseph?" Father Mears stepped aside to let her walk through the door. "It's a great story."

"It is, but I'm not convinced that all of it is suitable for younger children, especially the part about Potiphar's wife wanting to seduce Joseph." Mary Agnes seemed positively scandalized at the thought of having to explain that facet of the story to her young charges. "I think perhaps we'll have an abridged version of the story in class today."

"I'll leave that up to you, Sister." Trying not to appear nosy, Father Mears cleared his throat as he pretended to look over one of the day's activity worksheets. "So, has Dr. Brennan been...helpful?"

"Oh, yes, Father. She's suggested several enjoyable activities for the class that go along with the stories, and she's even helped me answer some difficult questions." Seeing the priest's consternation, Mary Agnes quickly explained. "They weren't faith questions, really. Mark Ellis wanted to know how dinosaurs could've fit in the ark, since several species of them were very large when they were on the earth, but Dr. Brennan explained that dinosaurs and people didn't live at the same time, and he was satisfied with that."

"I see. Well, very good, Sister. I'll let you get back to work. Oh, by the way, don't forget to remind the children about the program Friday evening…"

"Of course. Our class will be presenting a wonderful skit." Mary Agnes grimaced slightly as Father Mears left. She sincerely hoped her class would be ready to present a wonderful skit…

Oooooooooo

Sister Mary Agnes pinned the large picture of Joseph in his coat of many colors to the bulletin board, standing back to enjoy it while Brennan supervised the giggling children as they washed the excess marker stains from their hands. "A fine job there, little ones. I'm sure the real Joseph never had a coat as fine as this one." The second graders had drawn multicolored flowers, birds, zigzags, curlicues, and all sorts of other fanciful designs all over the poster sized picture. "I think we'll just leave this up here for a while to enjoy your work."

Brennan smiled as she glanced at the picture. "Joseph's coat was probably made of several different types of linen in a variety of woven patterns, but I would agree that a coat such as the children have illustrated would be much more beautiful. That poster was a good idea, Sister. It certainly encouraged the children to work together, which is a very important skill in the real world."

"Thank you, Dr. Brennan." Grinning happily, Mary Agnes clapped her hands to get her students' attention. "Alright, children. It's time to discuss our story. Please come sit down…"

The children jostled for position as they came over to sit around their teacher's chair. After gently shushing them, the young woman began their discussion.

"Well, children, Joseph had a very eventful life, didn't he? His brothers weren't very nice to him, throwing him in a pit and then sending him far away from home with a caravan…" Mary Agnes paused, deciding to omit the detail about Joseph's brothers selling him as a slave. "Then, while he was in Egypt, because of a series of terrible misunderstandings, Joseph ended up in jail…"

Brennan sighed sadly as she sat in the back of the classroom, having been very familiar with that scenario as it pertained to Booth and his time in a federal penitentiary. Christine had been quite young at the time, and her mother hoped the little girl had no real memory of that horrible part of their lives.

"...But Joseph never lost his faith in God, did he?" Pausing, the young nun nodded at her students. "It was a very hard time in his life, but he always did things the right way, just as God had instructed, and after a few years, Joseph was called into Pharaoh's presence to interpret some dreams. Pharaoh's bad dreams had troubled him greatly, and no one in his court could help him understand what they meant, but then a man who had been in jail with Joseph remembered him, and suggested that Pharaoh ask Joseph for help."

Mark raised his hand. "I dreamed about big, scary dinosaurs last night. What does that mean, Sister?"

Chiming in, Tommy blurted out, "I dreamed about ice cream. I love ice cream. It was chocolate with sprinkles..."

"I dreamed about fluffy white kittens." Annie stuck her tongue out at Mark. "Kittens are a lot better than dinosaurs…kittens are way cuter. I have a new kitten…"

"Alright, children, let's get back on track…", Mary Agnes stifled a giggle as she called her students back to order. "The Pharaoh was impressed with Joseph's wisdom, and after a while, Joseph was given a position of authority in Egypt, making sure that the people of Egypt were prepared for a famine that was supposed to come. Does anyone remember what happened next? Yes, Christine?"

"There was a huge famine, and there was nothing to eat in Israel, so Joseph's brothers had to come to Egypt to buy food.", Christine explained. "And they didn't recognize Joseph, but he recognized them."

"That's right. Joseph played a few tricks on his brothers, but eventually he told them who he was, and his brothers were worried, remember? They thought he'd be really mad at them, and he might want to get back at them…"

Fiona interrupted. "But Joseph was nice to them, instead."

"Very true. His brothers were quite surprised to find that Joseph had forgiven him, but Joseph said that he thought the Lord had sent him ahead to Egypt so that his family would be cared for during the famine. Joseph forgave his brothers for all the bad things they had done to them, and they became a family again."

Aaron shook his head. "Wow...that's crazy…"

"I might agree, Aaron, except I know that the Lord calls us to forgive each other. It's a very hard thing to do, believe me. It's one of the hardest things in the world…" Sister Mary Agnes nodded sadly. "But we still have to try."

"Even when my brother hits me?" Fiona asked. "Or when my sister cuts my doll's hair?"

"Yes, even then. Even when really bad things happen. Did you know that Jesus forgave the people who crucified him?"

The children sat quietly for a few seconds. Finally, Lucy spoke up. "Yeah, but Jesus is perfect, and we're not…"

"That's true", Mary Agnes agreed, "...but we can ask Him to help us forgive others." Glancing at her watch, the young nun smiled gently. "I see it's time to go home. We can talk about this some more tomorrow, if you want. Don't forget your notes about tomorrow evening…"

Oooooooooo

"You okay there, Bones? You've been quiet this evening. Hard day at Bible School?" Booth handed his wife a glass of wine as he settled on the sofa next to her.

"No, Bible School was fine. Christine enjoyed herself, especially when the students pretended to be in the camel caravan that took Joseph away." Brennan sipped her wine and smiled. "I don't think the children really understood that part of the story. They just wanted to pretend to that they were riding camels."

"Yeah, I get it. That story has a lot of parts that might be scary for little kids." Booth nodded as he took a drink of his scotch.

"Sister Mary Agnes did a good job of condensing the story down to the essentials." Brennan sighed as she lay her head on Booth's shoulder. "She told the children about Joseph being imprisoned under false circumstances, and it made me think of you…"

"I see. I guess that was upsetting for you, wasn't it?" Booth kissed the top of his wife's head. "But that's all water under the bridge now, isn't it? We can't do anything about the past."

"She said that your god calls his followers to forgive others, even for things that extreme, but I don't know how you could ever do that in those circumstances, Booth. I know you've forgiven a lot of people over the years, but the people who imprisoned you took so much time away from you...time you could've spent with your family...and you'll never get it back. That must be so difficult for you…"

"You're right. That was hard, and I'm not sure I've actually completely forgiven those bastards. The point is that I've gotta try, because otherwise I end up carrying all that shit around in my soul, and those guys don't deserve to be a part of my life any more. If I can forgive them, it helps me let go of all the pain and anger, and eventually it won't bother me as much."

"So you think forgiving people makes you feel better?" Brennan's brow furrowed as she thought over Booth's statement. "I'm not sure I understand…"

"Well, did you feel better when you and Max patched things up? It took a long time, but eventually you guys worked stuff out, right? You get along well with Russ now, too." Booth swallowed hard as he pulled his wife close. "And you forgave me when I started gambling again, and I'll always be grateful for that. Sometimes it's hard to forgive another person, because you have to let go of worrying about who's right and who's wrong, but I think, in the end, it's worth it. It makes things easier for everyone in the long run."

"And if I ever did anything wrong, you'd forgive me, right?" Brennan smirked slightly as she sipped her wine.

"Definitely." Booth chuckled as he gave her another kiss. "Of course, I know you'll never do anything like that, so I guess we'll never find out."

"Of course." Brennan patted her husband's knee. "Don't forget that we're supposed to go to the Bible School program tomorrow evening. The class is doing a skit."

Booth chuckled as he took another sip of scotch. "I'm looking forward to it. I bet it'll be wonderful."

Brennan nodded. "I'm not sure about wonderful, but it'll definitely be interesting…."


	6. Chapter 6

Sister Mary Agnes grumbled to herself as she looked over her lesson plans for the last day of Vacation Bible School. Of course, it would never occur to Sister Evangeline that the children might be confused by the jump from Old Testament Bible stories to New Testament parables, but Mary Agnes had given up trying to figure out the sort of logic employed by the church's Director of Christian Education. All the young woman could do was put the lesson into practice.

It wasn't the lesson itself. Mary Agnes was certain that her young students would understand the story of the Good Samaritan. It was more the idea that there would be no continuity, since all of the previous lessons over the past week had come from the Hebrew Scriptures. However, she knew it didn't really matter to anyone but her. Maybe someday she'd be a Director of Christian Education, and she'd do things the right way, but until then, she'd just do what she was told, even if she disagreed with it.

As it was, the children were arriving, and she needed to get them ready for this evening's program. Waiting until they were settled down in a circle around her chair, she greeted them pleasantly. "Good morning children. Good morning, Dr. Brennan. Our agenda for today will be somewhat different. As you may know, each class is supposed to present something for this evening's program, and we're going to do a little play about a parable. Does anyone know what a parable is?"

The children all looked at each other and shrugged. Finally Fiona raised her hand. "Isn't it a kind of Bible story?"

"That's right. Jesus told stories called parables. The parable we're going to learn about today is called 'The Good Samaritan.' Children, do you remember the themes we've had this week? What are they? Annie, can you name one?"

Annie scrunched up her face as she thought about the question. "God calls us to trust Him?"

"Very good. Katie, what was another one?"

"God calls us to be brave?", Katie asked shyly.

"That's right. And He calls us to be obedient and to forgive, remember?" The children all nodded silently. "Well, today's theme is that God calls us to be kind and helpful, and we're going to demonstrate that with our skit."

"We really have to be kind and helpful at the same time?" Tommy was astonished. "That seems like it would be really hard."

The young nun nodded. "Yes, it is difficult. I think that's why sometimes we have to work really hard on those things so we can develop good habits ." She passed around cards with character names on them. "Okay, I think everyone has a part, right? Good. Just follow the instructions on your card, boys and girls. Christine, you're the narrator, so please begin."

Beaming proudly, Christine began to read. "One day there was a man who was walking down the road."

Mark pretended to walk down the road, whistling loudly. "Here I go, just a man walking down the road."

Christine continued. "Robbers came and attacked him." At this point, Tommy and Katie gleefully pretended to beat up Mark, who groaned loudly as he fell over and began thrashing around on the floor. "The robbers left the man almost dead."

Mark cried out loudly as he flailed his arms and kicked his legs. "Oh no! The robbers got me and beat me up. I'm almost dead!"

Sister Mary Agnes arched her eyebrow at Brennan. "I think Mark might just win an Oscar some day." As Mark continued to writhe around on the floor, the nun tapped him on the shoulder. "That's enough, my dear. We get the idea. Go ahead, Christine."

"The injured man was lying by the side of the road and a priest came by. The priest crossed the street to avoid the injured man and went on his way without stopping to help."

Fiona walked by the 'injured man' with her nose in the air. "Yuck. I don't want to touch him. I'll just go on my way."

At this point, Tommy interrupted. "Father Mears is a priest, and he wouldn't do that. He'd get the man some help. He'd probably call an ambulance or something."

Mary Agnes nodded. "That's true, because he's kind and helpful. Remember, not everyone is as considerate as he is, and that's why we have to explain this idea with our skit. Christine?"

"Okay." She turned to the next page of the story. "The next person who walked by was a Levite. A Levite was an important person in the Temple. He also walked by without helping the man."

"I can't help him. I'm too busy." Annie scowled as she walked by Mark. "Gross."

Christine read further. "Finally a Samaritan, who was a man that nobody liked, saw the injured man on the road and felt sorry for him. He stopped to help, taking the man to a hotel and asking for someone to call a doctor. He left money to pay for the man's bills."

Aaron walked over to Mark and patted him on the head. "Come on, buddy. Let's get you some help." He helped Mark walk over to shake Lucy's hand. "Here you go, Lucy. Here's some cash. Call a doctor, okay? Take care of him until I get back."

"Which of these people were helpful and kind? Who helped his neighbor? Contestant number 1?" Fiona did a graceful curtsy as the children booed and hissed.

"Contestant number 2?" Annie smiled and waved happily as the children expressed their disapproval once again.

"Or Contestant number 3?" The children cheered wildly as Aaron pumped his fists in the air.

"Jesus calls us to be helpful and kind to others." Christine smiled as she folded up the script and handed it to Sister Mary Agnes.

"Very good, children. I love your enthusiasm. That's exactly how we'll do our skit tonight."

"Sister, I don't get it." Mark brushed off his shorts as he got up from the floor. "How come those other people didn't help the man who was hurt?"

Sister Mary Agnes opened her mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by her teaching assistant. "They were afraid of becoming ceremonially unclean.", Brennan said thoughtfully. "In those times, people thought that if they came in contact with someone who was bleeding, or who had died, it would make those people unfit for doing their religious duties. They weren't really trying to be unpleasant. It actually makes sense if you consider that they were actually trying to avoid the transmission of disease…"

"True, Dr. Brennan, but it may have been that the Priest and the Levite should've thought of others before considering themselves." Sister Mary Agnes pinched her lips together, wanting to avoid an argument. "I think we all face situations where we have to decide to follow the rules, or to choose to do something we know is right instead."

"If the priest and the Levite had broken rules about being ceremonially clean to help one man, it might have affected their ability to serve the rest of their congregation. Rules and protocols are usually put in place for a very good reason, Sister. For example, when I worked with the bodies of deceased individuals, I wear gloves, a lab coat, and sometimes goggles to avoid the transfer of body fluids from the cadaver to myself."

"What does deceased mean, Sister?", Aaron asked.

Lucy piped up as well. "What's a 'daver?"

Christine rolled her eyes at her classmates. "Deceased means someone's dead, Silly. A cadaver is a body left after a person dies." It was obvious that Christine was appalled by her classmates' lack of knowledge. "That's what my mommy does. She figures out how people died by looking at their dead bodies. One time, before I was born, she found a mummy and figured out who it really was, and it changed history. She and my daddy solve murders, too. They go out and find bones in weird places…"

Seeing that some of the children were becoming uncomfortable, the nun clapped her hands gently to draw their attention away from Christine. "Okay, children...back on track now. So, as Dr. Brennan has so kindly pointed out…" Mary Agnes sighed softly, hoping she didn't seem too irritated. "...the people who didn't stop may have had good reasons not to do so. You know what that tells me? That part of being helpful and kind is to give people the benefit of the doubt." Seeing that the children were confused, she explained further. "In other words, we shouldn't think badly about people's actions if we don't know what's going on in their lives. They may have problems we aren't aware of that might keep them from helping someone else. We shouldn't judge others. Instead, we should try to be kind to them. Alright?"

The children all nodded in agreement. "Yes, Sister."

Thinking that they had finished their discussion, Mary Agnes was surprised to see that Fiona had raised her hand. "Sister, how come the bad guys didn't go to jail? They hurt that man and stole his money."

"Well, I'm not sure...I suppose that wasn't the point Jesus was trying to make."

Undeterred, the child persisted. "But they broke the law. They should be arrested." Soon the other children were joining in with Fiona's complaint.

Seeing the nun's uncertainty on how to handle the question, Brennan coughed softly to get her attention. "Perhaps, Sister, we could mention at the end of the skit that the robbers were arrested. I don't think that will take away from the point of the story."

"That's a wonderful idea, Dr. Brennan. We'll do that." The young woman checked her watch. "Alright then, let's go outside and play for a few minutes before we have our snacks. I think we're going to have watermelon today."

Sister Mary Agnes and Brennan stood on the edge of the playground, watching as their students played tag and climbed on the monkey bars. After a few minutes of silence, Brennan cleared her throat.

"I apologize, Sister, if I derailed your lesson. When I was doing my undergraduate work, I took a course on the comparison of ancient religions, and my instructor, who was a Rabbi, made a point of explaining that several of the Hebrew laws dealing with whether or not something was kosher or unclean were derived from health concerns. They were trying to use science to prevent the spread of communicable disease, but they weren't sure how to do so. However, I do think some of those laws are just arbitrary, like not wearing clothing made of wool and linen mixed together…"

"Aye, that is crazy, isn't it? I certainly don't claim to understand all of those laws in Leviticus." Mary Agnes smoothed her habit as she sat down on a bench. "Tommy...stop tackling Aaron…" She smiled as she looked up at Brennan. "I'm not against science, Dr. Brennan. I know the ancient Hebrews had no idea that the Earth revolved around the sun, and they also thought the Earth was flat. They even thought bats were a type of bird. " The women both laughed at that tidbit of information. "Their understanding of science was very limited and almost completely based on what they observed, which, as we know, can often lead to misunderstandings. Of course, they thought there must be some sort of higher power involved in the workings of the world because they couldn't explain things for themselves. We know so much more about how things work in the world today, right? I think the difference between the two of us is that you don't see any divine intervention in what happens in the world around us, and I see it everywhere I look. But that doesn't mean we don't have the same goals, you know? I want the children in my classes, either during the school year or at Vacation Bible School in the summer, to grow up to be happy, productive adults, and I'm sure you want your students to be happy and productive as well. We just have a different point of view on how to get there."

Impressed by the younger woman's thoughts, Brennan nodded. "I believe you're right, Sister. We do have a common goal." Brennan paused for a second as she sat down next to the nun. "I don't need a god to tell me why the laws of physics work. I just accept that they do. I know why the sun rises and I understand evolution and global warming. I don't need a sacred book to explain things to me. That being said, I do want my students to be successful, just like you do."

"I mean no disrespect, Dr. Brennan, but when you just accept the laws of physics like that, how is that any different than my faith in the Lord? Aren't they both the same sort of thing?"

Brennan smiled as she studied Mary Agnes. "You are a very wise woman, Sister. Actually, my husband and I have this same argument on a regular basis. Given our mutual frustration with our discussions, it may be one of those no loss situations."

"I believe you mean a 'no-win' situation, Dr. Brennan. I agree. Perhaps there are some things that aren't worth arguing about." Calling the children over, the young woman clapped her hands to get their attention. "Okay, me darlins'...it's watermelon time. Don't forget...ask your parents to bring you to the parish hall by 6:30 tonight. We need everyone here on time."

"Yes, Sister." The children scampered away to some picnic tables where slices of watermelon awaited them.

"I'll see you this evening, Sister." Brennan smiled as she went to join her daughter.

"It should be a very interesting evening. I'll see you then, Dr. Brennan."


	7. Chapter 7

The parish hall was buzzing with noisy activity as children and parents got ready for the evening's presentation. Brennan had taken Christine to her classroom to meet Sister Mary Agnes, leaving Booth to bounce a squirming Hank on his knee. Looking across the crowd, he smiled as he saw his wife coming to join him in their seats by the stage at one end of the hall.

"All set?" Booth switched Hank from one knee to the other. "I guess they're as ready as they're ever gonna be, right?"

"I believe so, although for some reason, I find myself being somewhat apprehensive about the children's performance of their skit." Brennan smiled as she took the active three year old from her husband. "I suppose that's very silly…"

"Nah, I don't think so. I mean, you have a vested interest in the skit, too, since you helped teach the class." Seeing Father Mears take center stage, Booth put his finger up to his lips. "I think they're getting ready to start."

All of the children filled the stage and started the program with a rousing rendition of _Peace_ _Like a River_ , complete with hand gestures and a lot of jumping up and down in approximate time with the music, followed by a raucous version of _This Little Light of Mine_. Then it was time for the class skits. Some of the fifth graders helped the kindergartners walk through the stories of Jesus healing a blind man and a crippled man. The first graders did an admirable job of explaining the story of the feeding of the multitudes with five loaves and two fishes. Then it was time for the second graders to perform.

Christine came out onto the stage and bowed before she cleared her throat loudly. "The second grade class is going to tell you about the Parable of the Good Samaritan." The rest of her classmates came out to join her. "We hope you like it. Jesus used this story to explain who our neighbors really are. One day a man was walking down the road…"

At this point, Mark came strolling across the stage, whistling a cheerful tune. Tommy and Katie crouched in a corner lying in wait as their unsuspecting victim came by, setting upon him with a series of pretend martial arts moves, much to the crowd's delight. After being ignored by the priest and the Levite, Mark was finally assisted by Aaron, who practically dragged Mark by his shirt collar to the 'hotel' so Lucy could assist him. As an added twist, to satisfy the children's desire for justice to be served, the robbers were arrested and put in jail. When Christine finished reading the story, the audience was able to participate in deciding who was really the good neighbor in the story.

After thunderous applause, the second graders relinquished the stage to the third grade class. Sister Mary Agnes sighed quietly, feeling a sense of relief flood her soul. The skit had been a grand success, much to her surprise, and she had managed to survive a week of Vacation Bible School without the occurrence of any major meltdowns from her students, and more importantly, from herself. She smiled happily as she went to join Dr. Brennan and her husband Agent Booth in the audience.

"Well done, Sister." Booth grinned broadly at the young nun. "I'm glad we got those bad guys off the street."

"Thank you, Agent Booth. I was pleased to find that the children were so insistent on that point, especially Fiona, since her mother is a police officer. Thank you for adding that part to the script for us, Dr. Brennan."

"It was my pleasure, although it wasn't any trouble to add a sentence to the story."

"It was no trouble for you, perhaps, but I'm not sure I would've been brave enough to add that part to the parable if you hadn't encouraged me. As it was, it turned out well, and I'm sure the Lord didn't mind.", Mary Agnes whispered as the third grade began their part of the program.

After the last of the classes had presented their portions of the program, it was time for the punch and cookie reception. Trays holding a wide variety of cookies were laid out on long folding tables at the far end of the parish hall. Red punch and coffee were being served by Sister Evangeline and Mrs. Emmert, the parish administrator. The parents of the Bible School participants laughed and talked together as the students chased each other around the spacious room.

Father Mears smiled as he walked through the hall, pleased with the commotion surrounding him. Most of the participants at this week's Bible school program were the children of his parishioners, with some youngsters from the surrounding neighborhood thrown in for good measure. He was pleased that his congregation had a mix of younger families and older people. That sort of combination created a healthy parish. Seeing Sister Mary Agnes talking to Annie's parents, he waved to her. "Good job this evening, Sister."

Excusing herself, she left Annie's parents to join him. "Thank you, Father Mears. I was pleased with how enthusiastic the children were in putting on their skit."

"Yes, they definitely acted it out with gusto, didn't they? I think they enjoyed themselves immensely, and that sort of enjoyment will help them remember the point of the story." Father Mears beamed at his young friend. "It appears that all the worrying you did about this week was unnecessary, wasn't it?"

Mary Agnes wore a sheepish grin. "I suppose it was, Father. I remember me mum sayin' that it does no good to borrow trouble, and I can see now that she was right."

"A good lesson for all of us, isn't it?" He studied her for a few seconds before he continued. "It appears that all you really needed was a challenge to help you gain some self confidence, and I think there should be another one for you to tackle soon. I don't want that confidence to slip away, you know? I've spoken to the Sister Superior at your convent, who agrees with me, and we've come to a decision." Seeing the young nun's panicked expression, he chuckled. "Oh, don't fret, Sister. It's not like you have to engrave the Bible on the head of a pin, but what I have in mind will require a bit of extra work on your part. In addition to your regular second grade class at the parochial school, I'd like you to become Sister Evangeline's assistant director of Christian education. She wants to take a sabbatical in a couple of years, so this would be like on the job training for you. That way you could step into the position on a temporary basis while she's gone."

"Oh, I don't know, Father Mears…" Mary Agnes was about to explain why she thought the whole on the job training thing was a bad idea when Christine tugged on her sleeve.

"Thank you for being my teacher this week, Sister.", Christine said, flashing a broad grin. "I had a lot of fun."

"Well, my dear, I think everybody in the class had a lot of fun because your mother had so many good ideas to share with us." Sister Mary Agnes smiled as she shook hands with Brennan. "Thank you for all the help, Dr. Brennan, especially with the extra activities. You made this a memorable week for the children."

"It was my pleasure." Brennan smiled as she turned to the priest. "Sister Mary Agnes is quite adept at explaining your church's myths and legends, Father Mears. You should be very proud of her."

"Bones!", Booth hissed, blushing slightly as he glared at her. "We don't need to discuss that here!" He chuckled nervously as he smiled at the priest. "I believe those stories are true, Father…"

"Of course you do, Agent Booth. Well, I'm glad to hear that Sister did such a fine job explaining them, Dr. Brennan. I know she studied hard so she could present the lessons to the class in a satisfactory manner." Father Mears wore a merry grin as he winked at Booth. "In fact, she said you helped answer some questions about the lessons yourself. It appears that you may know something about our mythology as well."

"Of course. I'm very well versed in it. As an anthropologist, I'm actually well versed in the mythology of several cultures.", Brennan said proudly. "And, as a well educated person, I think that's important...to understand our culture's root metaphors. The stories in the Bible are allegories and fables, demonstrating what sort of morality is expected among the believers, very much the same way Aesop's fables were used to teach young Greek children was expected of them thousands of years ago. All cultures have those sorts of cautionary stories, such as the Grimm's fairy tales that were first heard in parts of Europe. The stories have common themes, which is why they are still used to educate children today. While I don't believe that your church's stories actually indicate that some sort of higher being rules the universe, I do recognize that Christianity has had a major influence on several world cultures, just as the Greek and Roman legends did. In fact, it may be that some of the more ancient legends, as well as the mythology of the Egyptians and the Babylonians, influenced stories in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. For example, Osiris…"

Clearing his throat to get his wife's attention, Booth shook his head as he shifted his restless son on his hip. "Hank's getting fussy, Bones. I think we need to go…"

Rolling her eyes at her husband, she held up a finger to interrupt his complaint. "Just a minute, Booth. As I was saying, Father Mears, Osiris is the Egyptian god of resurrection…", Brennan began, anxious to prove her point about mythology..

"I know." Father Mears chuckled softly. "A lot of religions in the area around the Middle East and the Mediterranean Sea had similar stories about the ancient times, such as the one about the Great Flood. Maybe they were all telling the same story in a different way, inspired by some unifying event. However, for some reason the older religions faded away as Christianity grew…"

"I understand that, Father, but that doesn't mean it was some sort of divinely inspired movement." Brennan was clearly exasperated. "It could be that it was easier for people to understand because it was monotheistic." She looked down at her daughter, who was pulling on her hand. "Yes, Christine...what is it?"

"Mommy, are you and Father Mears having an argument about God?", Christine asked. "...because that's not nice. We're sposed to inspect what other people believe, even if it's different than us, right? That's what you said about people being mean to Dr. Saroyan's husband because he's Muslim, right? You said it shouldn't matter to anyone what he believes, because he's a nice man."

"I think you mean respect what other people believe, Sweetheart." Booth caught Brennan's eye as he nodded at Christine. "You're right, though. We can respect what other people believe, even if we don't agree with them, right, Bones?"

Brennan paused for a few seconds, finally nodding as she smiled at the nun and the priest standing in front of her. "Yes, I believe we can give everyone that sort of respect, even if we disagree. Perhaps, as Sister Mary Agnes suggested to me this afternoon, some things are not worth arguing about."

"Good, because I liked the stories we learned this week, especially Noah and the ark." Christine giggled happily. "I think it would be fun to live with all those animals on a boat out in the ocean."

"Christine...surely you must realize Noah didn't really bring all those animals onto a big boat because of a flood that was supposed to occur." Brennan smiled as she tousled her daughter's hair. "It's not a true story…"

"I don't care if it's true or not. It's still a fun story. Anyway, maybe God can work things out in ways we don't know about. He's busy running the Universe, and prob'ly He hasn't had time to explain it all to us yet." Christine shrugged a shoulder at Father Mears. "What do you think, Father?"

"Well, young lady, I think that's as good an explanation as any." The adults looked at each other and laughed. "And on that note, I believe I'll say good night."

"Good night, Father Mears. Good night, Sister." Booth chuckled as he and Brennan left the parish hall with their children. "Way to shake up the priest, Bones. I wonder if they'll let you help with Vacation Bible School next year." He quickly dodged her playful nudge. "Just kidding. I think Sister Mary Agnes was glad you were here to help her this week."

"Perhaps, although I'm not sure she actually needed my help. She is a very intelligent person, and I think she'll do great things in her career as a teacher." Brennan smiled at Christine and Hank. "I also think that perhaps we should stop on the way home for some gelato..."

Oooooooooo

Booth chuckled to himself as his wife pretended to be engrossed in her latest anthropology journal. He sat on the edge of the bed and watched her for a minute or two as she crisply turned the pages without looking up at him. "So you're not still annoyed about Christine believing the Noah story is real, are you?"

"Of course not. What makes you say that?" She loudly turned to the next page.

"Oh, I don't know...it just seems like you're a bit irritated." He reached over and gently took the magazine away from Brennan and tossed it onto her nightstand. "You know, Christine is gonna go through phases where she believes in all sorts of different things, and I'm not talking about Santa Claus, either. One day she'll want to be a Buddhist, and the next day she'll want to be a Druid. That's what kids do...they explore. That's why it's good to let them experience different things."

"I know, Booth, but I'd really like her to use some critical thinking skills before she makes a decision about what to believe for the rest of her life." Brennan shrugged as she turned to her husband. "Of course, it's possible that thinking and believing are two different things…"

"I don't think that's always true. I know what I think about you, and that's why I believe you're the most wonderful woman in the world." Booth grinned as he caressed his wife. "You believe me, don't you?"

"Well, I have faith in your judgment in this case, so yes, I believe you." She reached up to turn off her lamp. "However, critical thinking demands proof…"

He laughed softly as he took her into his arms. "Oh, trust me...there will be proof…"

* * *

 _A/N: and so ends my little story. Thanks for reading. Laura_


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